We have demonstrated a general template synthesis halloysite-based composite nanotube. Starting from a parent halloysite nanotiube, polymer composite nanotubes were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The shell thickness and the cavity size of the polymer composite nanotubes were tunable by altering the polymerization time. Composition of the polymer layer could be tuned by the monomers, for example, polystyrene (PS) layer was achieved by AT P of styrene. Sulfonated PS layer (sPS) can be derived by the sulfonation of the PS layer. By specific interactions of desired materials with the sPS gel, a favorable growth of other materials, for example, metallic Ni, conductive polyaniline, inorganic titania is allowed. Besides, sPS can self-catalyze into carbon at high temperature. Thus, the composition of the composite layers can be broadly controlled ranging within metal or metallic compounds, polymer, inorganic, carbon, and their composites. This concept is general and can be extended to other polymeric gels and grown materials, expecting a huge family of composite nanotube. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 112: 2647-2655, 2009